**TTT-EE Appendices Discussion -- Music for Middle-earth -- In The End ***

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And in the end...

transcript from appendices

Rick Porras: In the end, I have to say, no matter how dark it was, I knew it was all going to happen. I didn’t really have a fear of that. It was more just, “Are we all going to be standing?” You know?

Paul Broucek: Everything that’s happened in this music process, things we’ve had to do because of this, that, and the other thing, have really unlocked a better way to do it.

Music Playing: Aragorn’s Theme (Brego riding scene)

Rick Porras: I think it’s very much a sort of precursor to what technology is going to be able to bring to the filmmaking process in the future.

Howard Shore: Even in the darkest hour I’ve always loved it. Because there only is one Lord of the Ring.

On Screen: Aragorn on Brego riding to Helm’s Deep

We’ve come to the end of this discussion for a movie that wasn’t the end. “Long ways to go yet...” To wrap up this leg of the journey we’ll explore an area not covered by the appendices--blending the themes--and we’ll take a more global look at the music--across The Two Towers and beyond. Does this music matter? How does it matter? Why does it matter?

One of the things I noticed almost immediately about The Two Towers score was the blending of themes. I had just wrapped my brain around this new concept (for me) of themes. Although I was recognizing the easy ones, The Shire and the Fellowship Themes, I had to work hard at most of the rest. I knew ‘that music’ sounded familiar but I wasn’t always sure where else I had heard it. I had to listen hard to tell the difference between the similar sounding danger motifs. I pulled hundreds of soundclips from the DVDs and listened and categorized and plopped them into folders with names like: Arwen, Gollum, Shire, Isengard, Sauron. And then came The Two Towers and bam... I was faced with blends.

Although this is not addressed at all in the Music for Middle-earth material, I think it’s a fundamental part of how the story and the score are progressing. Here are a few examples. All text below in red, excepting anything in parenthesis following “Magpie:”, is from the Annotated Score of The Two Towers, written by Doug Adams. This pdf was offered for free on the official soundtrack site in conjunction with the Complete Recordings of the TT. But is has since been removed from the official site since all that information was folded into Doug Adams' newly released book.

Fellowship/5 Beat Pattern Blend/Isengard: As the forces of evil advance their campaign to overtake middle-earth, the Isengard music adopts a parasitic stance, writhing its way inside any music it encounters in an attempt to corrupt its host. Here Isengard’s Five Beat pattern forces itself upon the Fellowship theme, deforming the melody with its tilting mechanical might.

Pity of Gollum/Ring Theme Blend: Violins rise through the three opening pitches of Gollum’s Pity. But instead of proceeding back down the line, the strings leerily divert up for two sighing pitches a half-step apart—the first notes of the History of the Ring. Frodo probes Gollum’s history, even calling him Sméagol for the first time in the story, but in one short passage, the score tells us everything we need to know. Gollum’s sad theme now interweaves with the Ring’s History theme. The Pity of Gollum and the History of the Ring have twisted into a single, tortured whole. Gollum’s history is the Ring’s history.

Gondor/Rivendell Arpeggios Blend: In The Realm of Gondor’s opening pitches we are reminded of (Aragorn’s) heritage, and his regal birthright. But Aragorn is not yet ready to claim that birthright. His mind is torn between his responsibilities in Middle-earth, fears of his own potential weaknesses, and his love for Arwen. Beneath the Gondor theme the Rivendell arpeggios begin to flow, warm but somber, devoid of the lucent orchestrations that colored the lines in The Fellowship of the Ring. (Magpie: I’m not sure if this is a blend as much as it is one theme overlapping another as the scene shifts. The Rivendell Arpeggios follow the scenes segue from Rohan to Aragorn’s flashback of Arwen in Rivendell.)

Rohan/5 Beat Pattern Blend: The Uruks gradually begin to bleed through the Elves’ defenses, scrabbling deeper inside. Having passed the Elves, the Five Beat Pattern meets the Rohan Fanfare, trampling not up against it, but directly through it. The score sounds the two lines in counterpoint, deforming Rohan’s rural beauty with the Uruk’s cumbrous brutality.Rohan/Fellowship/Lothlórien Blend: The main gate (of Helm’s Deep) is about to fall. With no choice left, Théoden commands all troops to fall back to the keep. French horn sounds a proclamatory call of the Rohan Fanfare, which closes with the opening three pitches of the Fellowship theme. Trumpet echoes the call, likewise beginning with Rohan’s Fanfare, then concluding with a turn from the Lothlórien theme.

What are three examples of shiny new bits of knowledge (or skills) that Magpie collected solely from her passion for the Lord of the Rings soundtrack?

My passion for this music has taken me down paths I never dreamed of. I’ve learned new things. I’ve corresponded with students, composers, teachers, and conductors from places like Belgium, China, Australia, Croatia, Netherlands, Germany and Finland. I’ve learned web design, how to rip sound files from DVDs, and how to set up forums. I’ve listened to the music as I slept and carefully, over and over again... paying close attention to each note or phrase. I am, by nature, a bit obsessive and I’m always looking for a new thing to learn more about. But there’s something unique about this music. It has shaped who I am today, and where I am going, and what I am doing.

Magpie Conversation Prompts:

I would like this final day to be an open forum on any and all thoughts you wish to explore. Below are my conversation prompts but if they don’t suit you, this is certainly the time to speak out in a way that does suit you.

Soundtracks in general: Did you pay attention to or listen to movie soundtracks before LOTR? How about since? Has this changed at all because of LOTR?

Howard Shore’s work outside LOTR: Have you listened to any of Howard’s other work? If so, before or after hearing LOTR? What did you think of it? The LOTR soundtracks: How much do you listen to the LOTR soundtracks? How has your feelings about the music changed over time? Do you remember your first listen? If you were to ‘rank’ the three movies against each other, by what criteria would you do it and how would you place them in rank?

Your emotional reaction: What has the music meant to you? How has it impacted your experience with the movies and/or the story of the Lord of the Rings? If you haven’t told us yet, what’s your favorite piece or use of music in The Two Towers? If you found yourself at a party on a couch with Howard Shore, what would you tell him or ask him? What’s the Matter?: I heard a statement awhile back that kind of struck me, “I just want to matter.” It made me think about that word, ‘matter’. The concept moves around in my head. It seems to mean one thing and then slide right into a different meaning. But... Does this music matter? Why does it matter? How does it matter? Put on your favorite music from Lord of the Rings and give that a chew. Can’t wait to hear what you think.

...for all the work. If it hasn't gotten the response it deserves it's probably for the same reason I hadn't replied until now: so much good stuff, so many interesting questions that I just decided to jump in here arbitrarily.

As for soundtracks in general, I had a few favorites up to this time but nothing of this scope and depth for obvious reasons. I wasn't familiar with Shore's other work. David Garland (WNYC) had an interesting interview and played some other selections but nothing else has grabbed me yet. One thing I did notice: my classical music listening used to start with the Middle Ages and Renaissance and taper off at the end of the Baroque Era. These days I find myself much more open to what I used to dismiss as "movie music" (even when it wasn't from a film) and I'm sure it's due in large part to positive associations with this music. I've been listening a lot to R. Vaughan Williams whose music makes a great "alternate Shire" soundtrack (as I think we discussed a while back).

As for "How often...?": A lot. I do a lot of driving and I live in a semi-rural area so it makes great background music (no condescension there) and sometimes I'll put on the headphones late at night and listen more closely, still finding things after all this time. TT might get a little less time than FO and RO but only a little.

Overall, the music does what the story does: it gives you all the sense of awe and wonder that mythology does plus the emotional content of a great historical drama and the human element (even when the characters are not strictly "human") of real people (even when they're not "real" or "people") caught up in extraordinary events. It relates to people and situations in my own life and shows me how they connect with the bigger picture, "Life" with a capital "L".